Fossil

Purbach

The ambience alone is worth the journey. Purbach has a bevy of ancient wine cellars, one of which is the workshop of Oliver Wiegand, where he pampers his guests. You can sit in the lovely garden, with views over the historic Kellerplatz square, or in the stunningly restored Sandstein cellar, from where you can peek into the demo kitchen and watch the chef put together your meal. His formula is a bold combination of regional and Mediterranean dishes, which reads like this: Ravioli with cracklings, served with cabbage cooked in riesling; or sautéed pikeperch on polenta with cracklings and marinated shallots; or carpaccio of tuna fish on a salad of avocados and mangos with truffle balsam; or sautéed quail with red beets and lentils, served with topinambur cream. And besides all those rainbows, there is a wine cellar to drive the color spectrum to its zenith with its Burgenland-focused variety.